Point of entry (poe) splitter circuitry

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to a CATV &amp; MoCA® device, such as a passive, point of entry (POE) splitter or a RF amplifier. In the passive, POE splitter, a resistive splitter network connects plural “MoCA® only” ports, e.g., four, five or eight, to two or more “MoCA® and CATV” ports. The MoCA® only ports and MoCA® and CATV ports are connected to a MoCA® rejection filter, which is in turn connected to an input connected to a service provider. In the passive, POE splitter or the RF amplifier, an intuitive female coaxial port layout and marking scheme assists technicians with correctly connecting the POE splitter or RF amplifier to the correct coaxial cables at a customer&#39;s premises. The port layout also simplifies the circuitry design parameters on a printed circuit board (PCB) by orienting the “CATV &amp; MoCA®” output ports at similar distances from a CATV input port of the POE splitter or RF amplifier.

This utility application is a continuation of U.S. Utility applicationSer. No. 16/133,678, filed Sep. 17, 2018, which is a continuation ofU.S. Design application Ser. No. 29/641,575, filed Mar. 22, 2018, andwhich also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.62/584,890, filed Nov. 12, 2017 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/559,833, filed Sep. 18, 2017, with each of the four priorapplications being herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to a passive splitter that providesone or more “CATV & MoCA®” outputs and plural “MoCA® only” outputs. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a low-cost, passive pointof entry (POE) splitter for a subscriber's premises, which utilizes aresistive splitter network.

The invention is directed to an intuitive female coaxial port layout andmarking scheme to assist technicians with correctly connecting a pointof entry (POE) splitter or amplifier to coaxial cables at a subscriber'spremises. The port layout also simplifies the circuitry designparameters on a printed circuit board (PCB) by orienting the “CATV &MoCA®” output ports at similar distances from a CATV input port of thePOE splitter or amplifier.

2. Description of the Related Art

Cable television (“CATV”) networks are known types of communicationsnetworks that are used to transmit information between a serviceprovider and a plurality of subscriber premises, typically over fiberoptic and/or coaxial cables. The service provider may offer, among otherthings, cable television, broadband Internet and Voice-over-InternetProtocol (“VoIP”) digital telephone service to subscribers within aparticular geographic area. The service provider transmits “forwardpath” or “downstream” signals from the headend facilities of the cabletelevision network to the subscriber premises. “Reverse path” or“upstream” signals may also be transmitted from the individualsubscriber premises back to the headend facilities. In the UnitedStates, the forward path signals are typically transmitted in the54-1,002 MHz frequency band, and may include, for example, differenttiers of cable television channels, movies on demand, digital telephoneand/or Internet service, and other broadcast or point-to-pointofferings. The reverse path signals are typically transmitted in the5-42 MHz frequency band and may include, for example, signals associatedwith digital telephone and/or Internet service and ordering commands,i.e., for movies-on-demand and other services.

Each subscriber premises typically includes one or more power dividernetworks that are used to divide the downstream signals received fromthe service provider, so that the downstream signals may be fed to aplurality of service ports, such as wall outlets that are dispersedthroughout the subscriber premises. These power divider networks alsocombine upstream signals that may be transmitted from one or more of theservice ports into a composite upstream signal that is transmitted overthe CATV network back to the headend facilities, e.g., in the 5-42 MHzfrequency band.

A recent trend is to use the coaxial cables that are installedthroughout most homes, apartments and other subscriber premises as an“in-premises” or “in-home” network that may be used to transmit signalsfrom a first end device that is connected to a first wall outlet in asubscriber premises to other end devices that are connected to otherwall outlets in the same subscriber premises. An industry alliance knownas the Multi-media Over Coax Alliance (“MoCA®”) has developed standardswhich specify frequency bands, interfaces and other parameters that willallow equipment from different standards-compliant vendors to be used todistribute multi-media content over such in-premises coaxial cablenetworks. These standards specify that such “MoCA®” content istransmitted over the in-premises coaxial cable networks in the 850 MHzto 1675 MHz frequency band, although some service providers onlydistribute MoCA® content within a narrower frequency band that is abovethe cable television band, such as, for example, the 1,125 MHz to 1,675MHz frequency band. Thus, the MoCA® content is transmitted over thein-premises network in a pre-selected MoCA® frequency band. The powerdivider network in the in-premises network may be designed to supportcommunications between its output ports in this pre-selected MoCA®frequency band.

Examples of MoCA® content that may be distributed over an in-premisescoaxial cable network are digital television, video-on-demandprogramming and digitally-recorded television or music programming. Inan exemplary application, such programming may be transmitted via thein-premises network of a home from a primary set-top box (which may be afull service set top box having a digital television receiver, DVRand/or video-on-demand capabilities, etc.) to less capable, lessexpensive, auxiliary set-top boxes that are installed on othertelevisions throughout the premises or directly to televisions, DVDplayers, etc. with MoCA® ports. In this manner, the full capabilities ofthe primary set top box may be enjoyed at all of the televisions withinthe residence without having to provide a primary set top box for eachtelevision.

In many cases, significant attenuation may occur as signals are passedthrough the cable television network of a service provider, and hencethe power level of the RF signal that is received at a subscriberpremises may be on the order of 0-5 dBmV/channel. Such received signallevels may be insufficient to support the various services at anacceptable quality of service level. Accordingly, an RF signal amplifiermay be provided at or near an entrance point of an individualsubscriber's premises. The RF signal amplifier is used to amplify thedownstream RF signals to a more useful level. The RF signal amplifiermay also be configured to amplify the upstream RF signals that aretransmitted from the subscriber premises to the headend facilities ofthe cable television network. Typically, the RF signal amplifiers areincorporated into the power divider network as the first unit, whichtakes the form of a powered bi-directional RF signal amplifier with aninput port for receiving a coaxial cable from the service provider sideand plural output ports which receive coaxial cables connected to thevarious service ports, such as the wall outlets that are dispersedthroughout the subscriber's premises.

In accordance with the known power divider network unit, a RF signalamplifier receives a composite downstream RF signal of approximately 5dBmV/channel in the range of approximately 54-1,002 MHz comprisinginformation for telephone, cable television (CATV), Internet, VoIP,and/or data communications from a service provider. The RF signalamplifier may increase this downstream signal to a more useful level ofapproximately 20 dBmV/channel at each output port of the unit and passthe amplified downstream signal to one or more devices in communicationwith the RF signal amplifier through connections to the various coaxialwall outlets. Such devices may include, but need not be limited to:televisions, modems, telephones, computers, and/or other communicationsdevices known in the art. In the event of power failure, unamplifiedsignals may still be passed (in both directions) through a passivecommunications path between the service provider and at least onecommunications device.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a bi-directional RF signalamplifier 100 according to the background art. More informationconcerning the bi-directional RF signal amplifier 100 can be found inthe Assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 9,699,516, published Jul. 4, 2017, theentire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

The RF signal amplifier 100 includes a plurality of RF output ports181-188 that may be used to pass downstream and upstream signals betweena service provider and multiple communications devices located in thesubscriber premises when the RF signal amplifier is powered andoperating normally. Moreover, the RF signal amplifier 100 furtherincludes a non-interruptible RF output port 189 that may be used tomaintain bi-directional RF communications even during power outages.

As shown in FIG. 1, RF signal amplifier 100 includes a bi-directional RFinput port 105 for receiving downstream RF signals from a serviceprovider, or any other appropriate signal source. The RF input port 105can also pass upstream signals in the reverse direction from the RFsignal amplifier 100 to the service provider. Due to the bi-directionalnature of communications through RF signal amplifiers, it will beappreciated that an “input” port will act as an “output” port and an“output” port will act as an “input” port if the direction of signalflow is reversed. Consequently, it will be appreciated that the terms“input” and “output” are used herein solely for purposes ofdistinguishing various ports from one another, and are not used torequire a direction of signal flow.

As noted above, RF signal amplifier 100 further includes a plurality ofbi-directional output ports 181-189 that may be used to pass downstreamRF signals from the RF signal amplifier 100 to one or more devices incommunication with the output ports 181-189, and to receive upstream RFsignals from those devices so that they may be passed through the RFsignal amplifier 100 to the service provider. It will be appreciatedthat any appropriate device that may advantageously send and/or receivean RF signal may be placed in communication with one or more of thevarious output ports 181-189. For example, it is contemplated thattelephone, CATV, Internet, VoIP, and/or data communication devices maybe placed in such communication with a service provider where the RFsignal amplifier 100 is installed in the residence of a subscriber.However, it will further be appreciated that any desired combination ofthese and/or other devices may be used where appropriate.

Signals received through RF input port 105 can be passed through RFsignal amplifier 100 via an active communications path 114 that extendsbetween RF input port 105 and RF output ports 181-188. Specifically, thedownstream signals that are received at RF input port 105 from theservice provider are passed to a passive directional coupler 110 thathas a first output port that connects to the active communications path114 and a second output port that connects to a passive communicationspath 118. The directional coupler 120 splits downstream RF signals ontothe active communications path 114 and the passive communications path118. It will be appreciated that the directional coupler 120 may eitherevenly or unevenly split the power of the downstream signals between thecommunications paths 114, 118, depending on the design of the overallcircuit. The active communications path 114 amplifies at least one ofdownstream signals from the service provider to the subscriber premisesor upstream signals from the subscriber premises to the serviceprovider. The passive communications path 118 acts as a“non-interruptible” communications path that has no active componentsthereon, which allows downstream and/or upstream signals to traverse thepassive communications path 118 even if a power supply to the RF signalamplifier 100 is interrupted. In some embodiments, the passivecommunications path 118 may provide a communications path for VoIPtelephone service that will operate even during power outages at thesubscriber premises (assuming that the modem and/or telephone, asnecessary, are powered by a battery backup unit).

As is further shown in FIG. 1, downstream signals traversing the activecommunications path 114 pass from the first output of directionalcoupler 110 to an input port of a switching device such as, for example,an SPDT non-latching relay 120. A first output 122 of the relay 120 isconnected to an input of a first high/low diplexer 130. A second output124 of the relay 120 is connected to a resistor 126, such as a 75 ohmresistor connected between the second output 124 and ground.

The first high/low diplexer 130 separates the high frequency downstreamsignal from any low frequency upstream signals incident in the reversedirection. In various embodiments, the first high/low diplexer 130 canfilter the signals in a manner such that signals with frequenciesgreater than approximately 45-50 MHz are passed as high frequencydownstream signals, while signals with frequencies lower than such rangeare passed in the reverse direction as low frequency upstream signalsreceived from ports 181-188. It will be appreciated, however, that otherdiplexer designs may be utilized.

The high frequency downstream signals filtered by the first high/lowdiplexer 130 can be amplified by individual power amplifier 140, andpassed through a second high/low diplexer 150 to a MoCA® rejectionfilter 160. MoCA® rejection filter 160 attenuates any frequencies in theMoCA® frequency range. Typically, no signals in the downstream directionwill contain MoCA® frequencies and hence the downstream signal will beunaffected.

Next, the downstream signal passes to an input 169 of a power dividernetwork 170. The power divider network 170 splits the downstream signalso that it may be distributed to each of ports 181-188. In theembodiment of FIG. 1, the power divider network 170 includes a powerdivider 171 in a first tier, feeding power dividers 172 and 173 in asecond tier, feeding power dividers 174, 175, 176 and 177 in a thirdtier. The first, second and third tiers form a pyramid structure. Whilethe power divider network 170 illustrated in FIG. 1 splits thedownstream signals for distribution to eight different ports, it will beappreciated that the power divider network 170 may split the downstreamsignals for distribution to different numbers of ports (e.g., four, six,ten, etc.).

Turning now to the reverse (upstream) signal flow through the activecommunications path 114 of RF signal amplifier 100, upstream signalsreceived by the RF signal amplifier 100 from devices in communicationwith ports 181-188 are passed to power divider network 170 where theyare combined into a composite upstream signal. This composite upstreamsignal is fed out of input 169 through the MoCA® rejection filter 160.The MoCA® rejection filter 160 attenuates frequencies in the MoCA®frequency range so as to prevent the MoCA® signaling, which freelytraverses between the ports 181-188, from entering the second high/lowdiplexer 150. The second high/low diplexer 150 separates the lowfrequency composite upstream signal from any high frequency downstreamsignals incident in the forward direction. As previously discussed inrelation to first high/low diplexer 130, the second high/low diplexer150 can filter the signals such that signals with frequencies greaterthan approximately 45-50 MHz are passed in the forward direction as highfrequency downstream signals, while signals with frequencies lower thansuch range are passed in the reverse direction as low frequency upstreamsignals received from ports 181-188.

The composite low frequency upstream signal filtered by the secondhigh/low diplexer 150 can be passed directly to the first high/lowdiplexer 130 (or optionally the upstream signal filtered by the secondhigh/low diplexer 150 can pass through an upstream power amplifier 142prior to reaching the first high/low diplexer 130), where it is thenpassed through the first output port 122 of the non-latching SPDT relay120 to the first output port of the directional coupler 110. Thedirectional coupler 110 combines the upstream signal received at outputport 122 with any upstream signal received from the passivecommunications path 118 and passes this combined signal to the RF inputport 105 for output to a service provider or other entity incommunication with RF input port 105.

The power amplifiers 140 and 142 that are included on the activecommunications path 114 are active devices that must be powered via apower source, such as a DC linear regulator 195 that outputs a powersupply voltage VCC. During normal operation, the RF signal amplifier 100can be powered from a power input port 190 and/or power that is reversefed through one of the RF output ports (e.g., output port 188, which islabeled “VDC IN”). In a typical installation at a subscriber premises,it is contemplated that RF signal amplifier 100 may be powered by anAC/DC adapter receiving power provided by the residence (for example,100-230 VAC, 50/60 Hz). As illustrated in FIG. 1, the power receivedfrom either power input 190 or power input 188 may be provided to the DCvoltage regulator 195 which supplies an operating voltage VCC to thepower amplifiers 140 and 142.

In the event that power to the DC voltage regulator 195 is interrupted,DC voltage regulator 195 will be unable to provide operating voltage VCCto power amplifiers 140 and 142. Consequently, during power outages, thedownstream portion (and also the upstream portion, if the upstream poweramplifier 142 is employed) of the active communications path 114 will belost.

As noted above, RF signal amplifier 100 also has the passivecommunications path 118 that extends from the second output of thedirectional coupler 120 to the non-interruptible RF output port 189.This passive communication path 118 bypasses the power amplifiers 140and 142 and does not include any active components. Consequently, thepassive communications path 118 will remain available to passcommunications between the RF input port 105 and the non-interruptibleRF output port 189, even when the power supply to the RF signalamplifier 100 is interrupted. Accordingly, the passive communicationspath 118 is also referred to as a “non-interruptible” communicationspath. The passive communications path 118 may be used to maintainessential services to the subscriber premises such as, for example, 911emergency lifeline services, even during power outages, so long as thesubscriber has a battery backup for the necessary devices connected tothe non-interruptible RF output port 189.

The passive communications path 118 is connected to the activecommunications path 114 at the input 169 of the power divider network170. Within the passive communication path 118, upstream signals fromthe non-interruptible RF output port 189 pass into an input 168 of adiplexer 162. Signals in the MoCA® frequency range exit the diplexer 162via output 164 and pass to the active communication path directlyupstream of the power divider network 170. By this arrangement, MoCA®signals from the non-interruptible RF output port 189 may enter theinput 169 of the power divider network 170. Hence, MoCA® signals may bepassed between all of the devices connected to ports 181-189.

The signals from the non-interruptible RF output port 189 which passinto the input 168 of a diplexer 162, which are in the high/lowfrequency range for downstream and upstream communication with theservice provider exit the diplexer 162 via output 166 and pass to thesecond output of the directional coupler 110, where the signals arecombined with the signals on the active communication path 114 and arethen passed to the RF input port 105.

Additional background art can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,676,744;6,969,278; 7,310,355; 7,530,091; 8,230,470, 8,695,055; 8,752,114;8,810,334; 9,167,286; 9,209,774; 9,356,796; 9,516,376 and 9,743,038, andin US Published Application Nos. 2005/0044573; 2006/0205442;2008/0120667; 2009/0320086 and 2013/0081096, which are hereinincorporated by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The Applicant has appreciated some drawbacks in the RF signal amplifier100 of FIG. 1. One drawback is that the downstream signal from theservice provider must be provided to the RF input port 105 at a relativehigh power level, or the downstream amplifier 140 must be made ratherrobust and will consume a high level of power, if the CATV signal is tobe provided at each of the ports 181-188 at a power level sufficient toprovide a high quality of service. In other words, assuming that eachpower divider 171-177 is set to split the incoming signal power to 50%going to each output leg, the CATV signal entering the input 169 of thepower divider 170 will be reduced by at least 87.5% before it reachesthe port 181. Assuming no losses in the power dividers 171-177, each ofthe eight ports 181-188 will present, at best, 12.5% of the signal powerlevel initially provided to the input 169 of the power divider network170.

The Applicant has appreciated that it is common in householdinstallations that not every coaxial outlet in the household needs to beprepared for CATV downstream signal feeds. Rather, many of the coaxialoutlets are simply used for MoCA® devices. For example, a typicalhousehold might need only one, two, or at most three, coaxial outletswith CATV downstream and upstream signaling abilities. Most houses seemto have one or two of the expensive set top boxes with DVR abilities anda modem for internet communications. Other outlets in the house mightonly need MoCA® abilities. For example, a TV that is used to watchrecorded events from the DVR, a computer that interacts with the modemfor internet access, a VoIP phone that interacts with the modem, agaming station that only interacts with another gaming station atanother wall outlet, etc.

Further, often times the signal strength of the downstream signal fromthe service provider is sufficient to power one, two or even three CATVdownstream signal feeds within a household without the need of anamplifier within the customer's household.

Therefore, the Applicant has appreciated a new device, which functionsas a point of entry (POE) splitter device that may be passive in nature.The POE splitter avoids the expense of amplifiers, like amplifiers 140and/or 142 in FIG. 1, while still providing one, two or three “CATV &MoCA®” and plural “MoCA® only” output ports supplied by a resistivesplitter network.

The housing of the new POE splitter also provides an intuitive femalecoaxial port layout and marking scheme to assist technicians withcorrectly connecting a POE splitter to the coaxial cables at acustomer's premises. The port layout also simplifies the circuitrydesign parameters on a printed circuit board (PCB) by orienting the“CATV & MoCA®” output ports at similar distances from a CATV input portof the POE splitter.

The intuitive port layout and coloring scheme, as well as the distancingof the ports relative to each other could also be useful in other CATVdevices, besides a passive POE splitter. For example, the port layoutand coloring scheme could be employed in combination with a RF signalamplifier, similar to the RF signal amplifier 100 shown in FIG. 1.

In summation, the housing, and more particularly, the layout of theconnection ports on the housing, is often times not intuitivelypresented to the field technician in the prior art devices. The presentinvention has an object to group the input and output ports in a moreintuitive, or “fool-proof” arrangement, so as to clarify the connectionports to the technician. Besides the section grouping, a color codingscheme may be employed in conjunction with the port to indicate the portfunctions. The color coding scheme may be a label on the housing of thedevice and/or the use of different shades of dielectric inserts withinthe female coaxial ports.

Further, the present invention places several of the output ports at anearly equal distance from the input port to offer advantages. Such anarrangement will simplify the circuitry design on the printed circuitboard (PCB) within the housing through symmetry and by eliminatingdesign constraints relating to signals needing to traverse differentlengths or distances on the PCB, which can lead to imbalances requiringadditional circuit components for compensation.

Also, some embodiments of the present invention reduce a number ofcomponent parts to achieve the same functions, as shown in the priorart. For example, the formation of a passive splitter with a pluralityof MoCA®/CATV ports and a plurality of MoCA® only ports supported by aresistive splitter network is accomplished with fewer component parts,as compared to the prior art.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limits ofthe present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a bi-directional RF signal amplifier,according to the background art;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a housing of a CATV home network device, such asa passive, point of entry (POE) splitter, in accordance with a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the POE splitter of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a housing of a (POE) splitter, in accordancewith a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the POE splitter of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 depicts a top label for a top face of the POE splitter of FIGS.4-5;

FIG. 7 depicts a side label for the a side face of the POE splitter ofFIGS. 4-5;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the POE splitter of FIGS. 4-5 with the top labelof FIG. 6 applied thereto;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the POE splitter of FIGS. 4-5 with the sidelabel of FIG. 7 applied thereto;

FIG. 10 is a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a firstembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one printed circuit board(PCB) within the housing of the POE splitter of FIGS. 4-5;

FIG. 11 is a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a secondembodiment of circuitry formed on the at least one PCB within thehousing of the POE splitter of FIGS. 4-5;

FIG. 12 is a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a thirdembodiment of circuitry formed on the at least one PCB within thehousing of the POE splitter of FIGS. 4-5;

FIG. 13 is a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a fourthembodiment of circuitry formed on the at least one PCB within thehousing of the POE splitter of FIGS. 4-5;

FIG. 14 is a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a fifthembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within a housing of aPOE splitter having two “MoCA® and CATV” ports” and five “MoCA® only”ports;

FIG. 15 is a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a sixthembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within a housing of aPOE splitter having three “MoCA® and CATV” ports” and five “MoCA® only”ports;

FIG. 16 is a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a seventhembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within a housing of aPOE splitter having three “MoCA® and CATV” ports” and five “MoCA® only”ports; and

FIG. 17 is a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a firstembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within the housing ofthe POE splitter of FIGS. 2-3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of theinvention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, thethickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features maybe exaggerated for clarity. Broken lines illustrate optional features oroperations unless specified otherwise.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the specification andrelevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions orconstructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and“between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. Asused herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between aboutX and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean“from about X to about Y.”

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”,“attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc.,another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to,coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements mayalso be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being,for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected”to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element,there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciatedby those of skill in the art that references to a structure or featurethat is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions thatoverlap or underlie the adjacent feature.

Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”,“upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein forease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship toanother element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It willbe understood that the spatially relative terms are intended toencompass different orientations of the device in use or operation inaddition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if thedevice in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or“beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” theother elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented(rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors ofrelative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly.

A top view and a front perspective view of a housing 201 of a CATV homenetwork device, such as a passive, point of entry (POE) splitter 200,are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The housing 201 includes a female coaxialinput port 203. The input port 203 is provided for receiving downstreamservice provider signals and for transmitting upstream signals fromcustomer devices to the service provider.

A plurality of first output ports 205, 207 and 209 are provided foroutputting service provider signals to customer devices and forreceiving signals directed to the service provider. The plurality offirst output ports 205, 207 and 209 are also provided for transmittingand receiving in-home network signals allowing customer devices withinthe home network to communicate with each other.

A plurality of second output ports 211, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223 and225 are provided for transmitting and receiving in-home network signalsallowing customer devices within the home network to communicate witheach other. The plurality of second output ports 211, 213, 215, 217,219, 221, 223 and 225 do not output service provider signals to customerdevices and do not pass customer device signals to the service provider.

Although FIGS. 2-3 show three ports in the plurality of first outputports 205, 207, and 209, more or fewer ports may be provided, such asone, two or four ports. Although FIGS. 2-3 show eight ports in theplurality of second output ports 211, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223 and225, more or fewer ports may be provided, such as three, four, five, sixor ten ports.

For example, FIGS. 4 and 5 are a top view and a front perspective viewof a housing 301 of a passive, POE splitter 300. The housing 301 may beformed of brass or any other conductive material, but in a preferredembodiment, the housing 301 is formed of zinc or a zinc alloy. Thehousing 301 includes a female coaxial RF input port 303. The input port303 is provided for receiving downstream service provider signals andfor transmitting upstream signals from customer devices to the serviceprovider.

A plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309 are provided foroutputting service provider signals to customer devices and forreceiving signals directed to the service provider. The plurality offirst output ports 305, 307 and 309 are also provided for transmittingand receiving in-home network signals allowing customer devices withinthe home network to communicate with each other.

A plurality of second output ports 311, 313, 315 and 317 are providedfor transmitting and receiving in-home network signals allowing customerdevices within the home network to communication with each other. Theplurality of second output ports 311, 313, 315 and 317 do not outputservice provider signals to customer devices and do not pass customerdevice signals to the service provider.

FIGS. 6 and 7 depict a top face label 330 and a side label 335,respectively. The top face label 330 is dimensioned to be adhered to atop face 331 of the housing 301 (FIGS. 4 and 5). The side label 335 isdimensioned to be adhered to a side face of the housing 301. The labels330 and 335 cause the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309to be labeled as “CATV/MoCA®” ports, and the plurality of second outputports 311, 313, 315 and 317 to be labeled as “MoCA® only” ports, as bestseen in FIGS. 8 and 9, which depict the labels 330 and 335 applied tothe top face 331 and the side face of the housing 301.

The labels may include color coding. For example, the “CATV/MoCA®” portsmay be partially or wholly encircled by a yellow line 337, furtherencircled by a black line 339. The input port 303 may be partially orwholly encircled by a blue line 341. The “MoCA® only” ports 311, 313,315 and 317 be partially or wholly encircled by only a yellow line 343.

In a preferred embodiment, each of the input port 303 and the pluralityof first and second output ports 305, 307, 309, 311, 313, 315 and 317 isformed as a female coaxial port. The input port 303 is located proximatea first, central section 345 of the top face 331. A second section 347of the top face 331 is provided on one side of the first section 345.The second section 347 includes the plurality of first output ports 305,307 and 309. A third section 349 is provided on the top face 331, on anopposite side of the first section 345. The third section 349 includesthe plurality of second output ports 311, 313, 315 and 317. In otherwords, the first section 345 is located between the second section 347and the third section 349 on the top face 331.

As noted above, the first section 345 is a characterized by a firstcolor or colors, proximate the input port 303. Although a blue line 341encircling the input port 303 is shown, the entire first section 345 maybe colored blue. The second section 347 is characterized by a secondcolor or colors proximate the plurality of first output ports 305, 307and 309. Although a black line 339 partially encircling a yellow line337, partially encircling the plurality of first output ports 305, 307and 309 is shown, the entire second section 347 may be colored in adistinguishable pattern, e.g., continuous black and yellow stripes. Thethird section 349 is characterized by a third color or colors proximatethe plurality of second output ports 311, 313, 315 and 317. Although ayellow line 343 partially encircling the plurality of second outputports 311, 313, 315 and 317 is shown, the entire third section 349 maybe colored in a distinguishable pattern, e.g., solid yellow.

The input port 303 and plurality of first and second output ports 305,307, 309, 311, 313, 315 and 317 are all formed as female coaxial ports,each having a dielectric insert for surrounding the pin receivingportion. The dielectric inserts for the plurality of first output ports305, 307 and 309 may have a first shade, e.g., white, and the dielectricinsert for the input port 303 may have a second shade, e.g., blue orred. The dielectric inserts for the plurality of second output ports311, 313, 315 and 317 may have a third shade, e.g., green. In otherwords, the first shade is visually distinguishable from the second shadeand the third shade, and the second shade is visually distinguishablefrom the third shade.

As best seen in FIG. 4, the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and309 includes first and third female coaxial ports 305 and 309, eachhaving a centrally located pin receiving portion. The input port 303 isformed as a fourth female coaxial port having a pin receiving portion.The pin receiving portion of the fourth female coaxial port 303 islocated a first distance, e.g., 23.5 mm, from the pin receiving portionof the first female coaxial port 305. The pin receiving portion of thefourth female coaxial port 303 is located a second distance, e.g., 23.5mm, from the pin receiving portion of said third female coaxial port309.

The first distance is approximately equal to the second distance. In theillustrated embodiment, the first distance is equal to the seconddistance. When the phrase “approximately equal” as used in thisapplication for the purposes of a comparison between two lengths, thephrase means that the longer distance is less than 10% greater than theshorter distance. e.g., if the first distance were 10 mm, the seconddistance would be less than 11.00 mm and greater than 9.09 mm. Where theword “equal” without a modifier is used in this application for thepurposes of a comparison between two lengths, the word shall encompass aminor manufacturing tolerance, such as less than a +/−1% difference inthe two compared lengths.

The plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309 also includes asecond female coaxial port 307 having a centrally located pin receivingportion. The pin receiving portion of the fourth female coaxial port 303is located a third distance from the pin receiving portion of the secondfemale coaxial port 307.

Although FIG. 4 is not to scale, in a preferred embodiment, the thirddistance is approximately equal to the first distance, and may equal thefirst distance. This may be accomplished by designating the pinreceiving portion of the fourth female coaxial port 303 as a center of acircle and by placing the pin receiving portions of the first, secondand third female coaxial ports 305, 307 and 309 at or near a same radiusfrom the center of the pin receiving portion of the fourth femalecoaxial port 303.

Placing all or several of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307and 309 at a nearly equal distance from the input port 303 offersadvantages. Such an arrangement will simply the circuitry design on aprinted circuit board (PCB) within the housing 201 or 301 throughsymmetry and by eliminating design constraints relating to signalsneeding to traverse different lengths or distances on the PCB, which canlead to imbalances requiring additional circuit components forcompensation.

FIG. 10 shows a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a firstembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one printed circuit board(PCB) within the housing 301 of the POE splitter 300 of FIGS. 4-5.

A resistive splitter network 401 is connected to the plurality of secondoutput ports 311, 313, 315 and 317. A single and sole in-home networkrejection filter 403 is located within the housing 301 between the inputport 303 and the plurality of first and second output ports 305, 307,309, 311, 313, 315 and 317. The in-home network rejection filter 403prevents signals of the in-home network from exiting the input port 303toward the service provider.

In a preferred embodiment, the upstream and downstream signalsassociated with the service provider signals reside within a frequencyband of 5 to 1002 MHz, and the in-home network signals reside within aMoCA® frequency band of 1125 to 1675 MHz, making said in-home networkrejection filter 403, a MoCA® rejection filter 403.

A MoCA® pass filter 405, which passes MoCA® frequencies, but attenuatesother frequencies, is also provided. The MoCA® pass filter 405 islocated between the resistive splitter network 401 and the MoCA®rejection filter 403. The MoCA® pass filter 405 may pass frequenciesabove 1125 MHz and attenuate frequencies below 1125 MHz. However, in apreferred embodiment, the MoCA® pass filter 405 also attenuatesfrequencies above 1675 MHz.

In the first embodiment of FIG. 10, a first terminal of the MoCA®rejection filter 403 is directly connected to the input port 303 and asecond terminal of the MoCA® rejection filter 403 is connected to aninput of a first power divider 415. The first power divider 415 hasfirst and second output legs. The first output leg of the first powerdivider 415 is connected to a first terminal 409 of a first directionalcoupler 407. A second terminal 411 of the first directional coupler 407is connected to the MoCA® pass filter 405. A third terminal 413 of thefirst directional coupler 407 is directly connected to the first port305 of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309.

In a preferred embodiment, the first directional coupler 407 is orientedas shown in FIG. 10, so that signals passing between the first terminal409 and the third terminal 413 of the first directional coupler 407 ineither direction suffer little attenuation, such as less than 2 dB, morepreferably in the range of 0.5 to 1.0 dB, like 0.7 dB. Signals passingbetween the second terminal 411 and the third terminal 413 of the firstdirectional coupler 407 in either direction suffer more attenuation,such as between 3 to 15 dB, more preferably between 5 and 10 dB, like 7to 9 dB. Signals passing between the first terminal 409 and the secondterminal 411 of the first directional coupler 407 in either directionsuffer high attenuation, such as greater than 25 dB, more preferablygreater than 30 dB, like 40 dB or more.

The second output leg of the first power divider 415 is connected to afirst terminal 409 of a second directional coupler 407A. The seconddirectional coupler 407A is formed like the first directional coupler407, with reference to the dB losses between the first, second and thirdterminals 409, 411 and 413. The third terminal 413 of the seconddirectional coupler 407A is connected to an input of a second powerdivider 417. The second power divider 417 has first and second outputlegs, directly connected to the second and third output ports 307 and309 of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309,respectively.

The connection between the second terminal 411 of the first directionalcoupler 407 and a first terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405 mayinclude a resistor RA. Likewise, the connection between the secondterminal 411 of the second directional coupler 407A and the firstterminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405 may include a resistor RB. Theresistors RA and RB may be used to balance the circuit, and inparticular balance the function of the MoCA® pass filter 405 incombination with the resistive splitter network 401. The value of eachresistor RA or RB, and would be less than 75 ohms, typically less than50 ohm, more preferably less than 10 ohms. Also, one or both of theresistance values of resistors RA and RB may be zero, essentiallyindicating the absence of dedicated resistors in the connection betweenthe second terminals 411 of the first and second directional couplers407 and 407A and the MCA pass filter 405.

A second terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405 is directly connected tothe resistive splitter network 401. The resistive splitter network 401of FIG. 10 includes four resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4. A first terminalof each of the resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4 is directly connected to thesecond terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405. A second terminal of eachof the resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4 is directly connected to theplurality of second output ports 311, 313, 315 and 317, respectively.The resistive values of the resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4 are selected toproduce a port resistance of 75 ohm. Hence, the resistance of eachresistor R1, R2, R3 and R4 is less than 75 ohms, typically in the rangeof 40 to 65 ohms, more particularly in the range of 45 to 60 ohms.Examples of resistor values which have balanced the resistive network401 were 47 ohms, 53.5 ohm and 60 ohms, depending upon other designparameters within the circuit, like the resistor values of RA and RB,the number of ports in the plurality of second ports, etc.

FIG. 11 shows a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a secondembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within the housing301 of the POE splitter 300 of FIGS. 4-5. The same or similar elementshave been labeled by the same reference numerals. Similar to the firstembodiment, the resistive splitter network 401 is connected to theplurality of second output ports 311, 313, 315 and 317. The MoCA®rejection filter 403 is located between the input port 303 and theplurality of first and second output ports 305, 307, 309, 311, 313, 315and 317. The MoCA® pass filter 405 is located between the resistivesplitter network 401 and the MoCA® rejection filter 403.

In the second embodiment of FIG. 11, the first terminal of the MoCA®rejection filter 403 is directly connected to the input port 303 and thesecond terminal of the MoCA® rejection filter 403 is directly connectedto the input of the first power divider 415. The first output leg of thefirst power divider 415 is directly connected to the first terminal 409of the first directional coupler 407. The first directional coupler 407may be configured to have the same DB losses as described above. Thefirst directional coupler 407 is also configured the same as in FIG. 10,in that the third terminal 413 is directly connected to the first outputport 305 of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309, andthe second terminal 411 passes through resistor RA to the MoCA® passfilter 405 and ultimately to the resistive splitter network 401.

The second output leg of the first power divider 415 is directlyconnected to the input of the second power divider 417. The first outputleg of the second power divider 417 is directly connected the firstterminal 409 of the second directional coupler 407A. The second terminal411 of the second directional coupler 407A passes through resistor RB tothe MoCA® pass filter 405. The third terminal 413 of the seconddirectional coupler 407A is directly connected to the second output port307 of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309.

The second output leg of the second power divider 417 is directlyconnected to a first terminal 409 of a third directional coupler 407B.The third directional coupler 407B may be configured to have the same DBlosses across its terminals, as described above in relation to the firstand second directional couplers 407 and 407A. A second terminal 411 ofthe third directional coupler 407B passes through a resistor RC to theMoCA® pass filter 405. A third terminal 413 of the third directionalcoupler 407B is directly connected to the third output port 309 of theplurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309. The resistors RA, RBand RC may have the same resistive values or may be eliminated asdiscussed above with regard to resistors RA and RB.

FIG. 12 shows a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a thirdembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within the housing301 of the POE splitter 300 of FIGS. 4-5. The same or similar elementshave been labeled by the same reference numerals. Similar to theprevious embodiments, the resistive splitter network 401 is connected tothe plurality of second output ports 311, 313, 315 and 317. The MoCA®rejection filter 403 is located between the input port 303 and theplurality of first and second output ports 305, 307, 309, 311, 313, 315and 317. The MoCA® pass filter 405 is located between the resistivesplitter network 401 and the MoCA® rejection filter 403.

In the third embodiment of FIG. 12, the first terminal of the MoCA®rejection filter 403 is directly connected to the input port 303 and thesecond terminal of the MoCA® rejection filter 403 is directly connectedto the first terminal 409 of the first directional coupler 407. Thefirst directional coupler 407 may be configured to have the same DBlosses as described above. The second terminal 411 of the firstdirectional coupler 407 is directly connected to a first terminal of theMoCA® pass filter 405. The second terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405is directly connected to a first terminal of resistor RA. The secondterminal of the resistor RA is directly connected to the resistivesplitter network 401. The values of the resistors RA, R1, R2, R3 and R4may be selected as described above in connection with the previousembodiments.

The third terminal 413 of the first directional coupler 407 is directlyconnected to the input of the first power divider 415. The first outputleg of the first power divider 415 is directly connected the firstoutput port 305 of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309.The second output leg of the first power divider 415 is directlyconnected to the input to the second power divider 417. The first andsecond output legs of the second power divider 417 are directlyconnected to the second and third output ports 307 and 309 of theplurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309, respectively.

FIG. 13 shows a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a fourthembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within the housing301 of the POE splitter 300 of FIGS. 4-5. The same or similar elementshave been labeled by the same reference numerals. Similar to theprevious embodiments, the resistive splitter network 401 is connected tothe plurality of second output ports 311, 313, 315 and 317. However,instead of a single MoCA® rejection filter 403, the fourth embodimentincludes first and second MoCA® rejection filters 403 and 403A.

In the fourth embodiment of FIG. 13, the input port 303 is directlyconnected to the input of the first power divider 415. The first outputleg of the first power divider 415 is directly connected a firstterminal of the first MoCA® rejection filter 403. The second output legof the first power divider 415 is directly connected a first terminal ofthe second MoCA® rejection filter 403A.

A second terminal of the first MoCA® rejection filter 403 is directlyconnected to the first terminal 409 of the first directional coupler407. The first directional coupler 407 may be configured to have thesame DB losses as described above. The third terminal 413 of the firstdirectional coupler 407 is directly connected the first output port 305of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309. The secondterminal 411 of the first directional coupler 407 is directly connectedto a resistor R5 within the resistive splitter network 401. The ResistorR5 may be configured the same and have a same resistive value as theresistors R1, R2, R3, and R4 of the resistive splitter network 401.

A second terminal of the second MoCA® rejection filter 403A is directlyconnected to the first terminal 409 of the second directional coupler407A. The second directional coupler 407A may be configured to have thesame DB losses as described above. The second terminal 411 of the seconddirectional coupler 407A is directly connected to the resistive splitternetwork 401. The third terminal 413 of the second directional coupler407A is directly connected to an input of the second power divider 417.The first and second output legs of the second power divider 417 aredirectly connected to the second and third output ports 307 and 309 ofthe plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309, respectively.

FIG. 14 shows a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a fifthembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within a housing of aPOE splitter. The POE splitter of FIG. 14 includes two “CATV & MoCA®”ports 305 and 307 and five “MoCA® only” ports 311, 313, 315, 317 and319. The same or similar elements have been labeled by the samereference numerals. Similar to the previous embodiments, the resistivesplitter network 401 is connected to the plurality of second outputports 311, 313, 315, 317 and 319. Like the fourth embodiment, the fifthembodiment also includes first and second MoCA® rejection filters 403and 403A.

In the fifth embodiment of FIG. 14, the input port 303 is directlyconnected to the first terminal 409 of the first directional coupler407. The third terminal 413 of the first directional coupler 407 isdirectly to the first terminal of the first MoCA® rejection filter 403.The second terminal 411 of the first directional coupler 407 is directlyconnected to the first terminal of the second MoCA® rejection filter403A.

The second terminal of the second MoCA® rejection filter 403A isdirectly connected to the resistive splitter network 401. The secondterminal of the first MoCA® rejection filter 403 is directly connectedto the first terminal 409 of the second directional coupler 407A. Thefirst and second directional couplers 407 and 407A may be configured tohave the same DB losses as described above.

The second terminal 411 of the second directional coupler 407A isdirectly connected to the first terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405.The second terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405 is directly connectedto a resistor R6 within the resistive splitter network 401. The thirdterminal 413 of the second directional coupler 407A is directlyconnected to the input of the first power divider 415.

The first output leg of the first power divider 415 is directlyconnected the first output port 305 of the plurality of first outputports 305, 307 and 309. The second output leg of the first power divider415 is directly connected to the input to the second power divider 417.The first output leg of the second power divider 417 is directlyconnected to the second output port 307 of the plurality of first outputports 305, 307 and 309. The second output leg of the second powerdivider 417 is directly connected to a resistor RD. Resistor RDterminates the second output leg to ground, and may be formed as a 75ohm resistor. Alternatively, the second leg of the first power divider415 may be directly connected to the second output port 307 of theplurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309, and the second powerdivider 417 may be eliminated.

The resistive splitter network 401 now has five “MoCA® only” ports 311,313, 315, 317 and 319. The resistors R5 and R6 may be configured thesame and have a same resistive value as the resistors R1, R2, R3, and R4of the resistive splitter network 401 of previous embodiments.

FIG. 15 shows a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a sixthembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within a housing of aPOE splitter. The POE splitter of FIG. 15 includes three “CATV & MoCA®”ports 305, 307 and 309 and five “MoCA® only” ports 311, 313, 315, 317and 319. The same or similar elements have been labeled by the samereference numerals. Similar to the previous embodiments, the resistivesplitter network 401 is connected to the plurality of second outputports 311, 313, 315, 317 and 319. Like the fourth and fifth embodiments,the sixth embodiment also includes first and second MoCA® rejectionfilters 403 and 403A.

In the sixth embodiment of FIG. 15, the input port 303 is directlyconnected to the first terminal 409 of the first directional coupler407. The third terminal 413 of the first directional coupler 407 isdirectly to the first terminal of the first MoCA® rejection filter 403.The second terminal 411 of the first directional coupler 407 is directlyconnected to the first terminal of the second MoCA® rejection filter403A.

The second terminal of the second MoCA® rejection filter 403A isdirectly connected to the resistive splitter network 401. The secondterminal of the first MoCA® rejection filter 403 is directly connectedto the input of the first power divider 415. The first output leg of thefirst power divider 415 is directly connected the first output port 305of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309. The secondoutput leg of the first power divider 415 is directly connected to thefirst terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405 and to the input of thesecond power divider 417. The first and second output legs of the secondpower divider 417 are directly connected to the second and third outputports 307 and 309 of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and309, respectively.

The second terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405 is directly connectedto the resistor R6 within the resistive splitter network 401. Theresistive splitter network 401 has five “MoCA® only” ports 311, 313,315, 317 and 319. The resistors R5 and R6 may be configured the same andhave a same value as the resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4 of the resistivesplitter network 401 of previous embodiments.

FIG. 16 shows a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of a seventhembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within a housing of aPOE splitter. The POE splitter of FIG. 16 includes three “CATV & MoCA®”ports 305, 307 and 309 and five “MoCA® only” ports 311, 313, 315, 317and 319. The same or similar elements have been labeled by the samereference numerals. Similar to the previous embodiments, the resistivesplitter network 401 is connected to the plurality of second outputports 311, 313, 315, 317 and 319. Like the fourth through sixthembodiments, the seventh embodiment also includes first and second MoCA®rejection filters 403 and 403A.

In the seventh embodiment of FIG. 16, the input port 303 is directlyconnected to the first terminal 409 of the first directional coupler407. The third terminal 413 of the first directional coupler 407 isdirectly connected to the first terminal of the first MoCA® rejectionfilter 403. The second terminal 411 of the first directional coupler 407is directly connected to the first terminal of the second MoCA®rejection filter 403A.

The second terminal of the second MoCA® rejection filter 403A isdirectly connected to the resistive splitter network 401. The secondterminal of the first MoCA® rejection filter 403 is directly connectedto the input of the first power divider 415. The first output leg of thefirst power divider 415 is directly connected the first output port 305of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309. The secondoutput leg of the first power divider 415 is directly connected to theinput of the second power divider 417. The first output leg of thesecond power divider 417 is directly connected to an input of a thirdpower divider 417A. The first and second output legs of the third powerdivider 417A are directly connected to the second and third output ports307 and 309 of the plurality of first output ports 305, 307 and 309,respectively.

The second output leg of the second power divider 417 is directlyconnected to the first terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405. The secondterminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405 is directly connected to theresistor R6 within the resistive splitter network 401. The resistivesplitter network 401 has five “MoCA® only” ports 311, 313, 315, 317 and319. The resistors R5 and R6 may be configured the same and have a sameresistive value as the resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4 of the resistivesplitter network 401 of previous embodiments.

FIG. 17 shows a high-level schematic, or block diagram, of an eighthembodiment of circuitry formed on at least one PCB within the housing201 of the POE splitter 200 of FIGS. 2-3. The POE splitter of FIG. 17includes three “CATV & MoCA®” ports 205, 207 and 209 and eight “MoCA®only” ports 211, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223 and 225. The same orsimilar elements have been labeled by the same reference numerals.Similar to the previous embodiments, the resistive splitter network 401is connected to the plurality of second output ports 211, 213, 215, 217,219, 221, 223 and 225.

In the eighth embodiment of FIG. 17, the input port 203 is directlyconnected to the first terminal 409 of the first directional coupler407. The third terminal 413 of the first directional coupler 407 isdirectly connected to the first terminal of the first MoCA® rejectionfilter 403. The second terminal 411 of the first directional coupler 407is directly connected to a grounded resistor RE. The grounded resistorRE may have a value like 75 ohms. Alternatively, the input port 203 maybe directly connected to the first terminal of the first MoCA® rejectionfilter 403, and the first directional coupler 407 and grounded resistorRE may be eliminated.

The second terminal of the first MoCA® rejection filter 403 is directlyconnected to the input of the first power divider 415. The first outputleg of the first power divider 415 is directly connected the firstoutput port 205 of the plurality of first output ports 205, 207 and 209.The second output leg of the first power divider 415 is directlyconnected to the input of the second power divider 417. The first outputleg of the second power divider 417 is directly connected to an input ofthe third power divider 417A. The first and second output legs of thethird power divider 417A are directly connected to the second and thirdoutput ports 207 and 209 of the plurality of first output ports 205, 207and 209, respectively.

The second output leg of the second power divider 417 is directlyconnected to the first terminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405. The secondterminal of the MoCA® pass filter 405 is directly connected to aresistor R9 within the resistive splitter network 401. The resistivesplitter network 401 has eight “MoCA® only” ports 211, 213, 215, 217,219, 221, 223 and 225. The resistors R5, R6, R7, R8 and R9 may beconfigured the same and have a same resistive value as the resistors R1,R2, R3 and R4 of the resistive splitter network 401 of previousembodiments. The resistor RF is optionally included as part of theresistive splitter network 401 and may be useful to balance theresistive splitter network 401 in combination with the other circuitryof FIG. 17, such as in the instance where no connectors are mated to theplurality of second ports 211, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223 and 225. Inone embodiment, the resistor RF may be 75 ohms or alternativelyconfigured to match the same value as the resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4.

In the above embodiments, the MoCA® rejection filters 403 and/or 403Amay be constructed to reflect MoCA® signals in a direction back towardthe plurality of first output ports 205/305, 207/307 and 209/309.

The first, second and/or third power dividers 415, 417 and/or 417A maybe constructed in accordance with the Assignee's prior U.S. Pat. No.8,397,271, which is herein incorporated by reference. Optionally, eachof the first, second and/or third power dividers 415, 417 and/or 417Amay have a MoCA® bypass filter, which assists in passing MoCA® signalsbetween the first and second output legs of the power divider 415, 417and/or 417A, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 8,397,271.Further, the first, second and/or third power dividers 415, 417 and/or417A may be configured to divide an input signal 50-50 between the firstand second out legs, or alternatively to divide the input signal byother ratios, like 60-40 or 70-30, to pass most of the input signal to apreferred leg, e.g., the first output leg.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to beincluded within the scope of the following claims.

1. A CATV home network splitter device comprising: a housing with a topface; a female coaxial input port located in a first section of said topface of said housing, said input port for receiving downstream serviceprovider signals and for transmitting upstream signals from customerdevices to the service provider; a plurality of first output portslocated in a second section of said top face of said housing, saidplurality of first output ports for outputting service provider signalsto customer devices and for receiving signals directed to the serviceprovider, and said plurality of first output ports also for transmittingand receiving in-home network signals allowing customer devices withinthe home network to communicate with each other, said plurality of firstoutput ports being designated as CATV and MoCA® ports; a plurality ofsecond output ports located in a third section of said top face of saidhousing, wherein said first section is located between said secondsection and said third section on said top face, said plurality ofsecond output ports for transmitting and receiving in-home networksignals allowing customer devices within the home network to communicatewith each other, wherein said plurality of second output ports do notoutput service provider signals to customer devices and do not passcustomer device signals to the service provider, said plurality ofsecond output ports being designated as MoCA® only ports; and aresistive splitter network connected to said plurality of second outputports, wherein each of said plurality of MoCA® only ports canbi-directionally communicate within a MoCA® frequency band with all ofsaid CATV and MoCA® ports located on said housing.
 2. The deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein said first section of said top face is acentral section of said top face.
 3. The device according to claim 1,wherein upstream and downstream signals associated with said serviceprovider signals reside within a frequency band of 5 to 1002 MHz, andwherein said in-home network signals reside within a MoCA® frequencyband of 1125 to 1675 MHz.
 4. The device according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a MoCA® pass filter, which passes MoCA® frequencies, butattenuates other frequencies, wherein said MoCA® pass filter is locatedbetween said resistive splitter network and said CATV and MoCA® ports.5. The device according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of secondoutput ports includes at least four ports.
 6. The device according toclaim 1, wherein said plurality of first output ports includes first,second and third output ports.
 7. A CATV home network splitter devicecomprising: a housing with a top face; a female coaxial input portlocated in a first section of said top face of said housing, said inputport for receiving downstream service provider signals and fortransmitting upstream signals from customer devices to the serviceprovider; a plurality of first output ports located in a second sectionof said top face of said housing, said plurality of first output portsfor outputting service provider signals to customer devices and forreceiving signals directed to the service provider, and said pluralityof first output ports also for transmitting and receiving in-homenetwork signals allowing customer devices within the home network tocommunicate with each other, said plurality of first output ports beingdesignated as CATV and MoCA® ports; a plurality of second output portslocated in a third section of said top face of said housing, whereinsaid first section is characterized by a first color or colors,proximate said input port, said second section is characterized by asecond color or colors proximate said plurality of first output ports,and said third section is characterized by a third color or colorsproximate said plurality of said second output ports, and wherein saidfirst color or colors are visually distinguishable from said secondcolor or colors and said third color or colors, and wherein said secondcolor or colors are visually distinguishable from said third color orcolors, said plurality of second output ports for transmitting andreceiving in-home network signals allowing customer devices within thehome network to communicate with each other, wherein said plurality ofsecond output ports do not output service provider signals to customerdevices and do not pass customer device signals to the service provider,said plurality of second output ports being designated as MoCA® onlyports; and a resistive splitter network connected to said plurality ofsecond output ports, wherein each of said plurality of MoCA® only portscan bi-directionally communicate within a MoCA® frequency band with allof said CATV and MoCA® ports located on said housing.
 8. The deviceaccording to claim 7, wherein said first color or colors, second coloror colors and third color or colors are part of a label applied to saidtop face of said housing.
 9. The device according to claim 7, whereineach of said input port, said plurality of first output ports and saidplurality of second output ports is formed as a female coaxial port witha pin receiving portion, and further comprising: dielectric inserts foreach of said female coaxial ports, said dielectric inserts surroundingsaid pin receiving portions, wherein said dielectric inserts for saidplurality of first output ports have a first shade, wherein saiddielectric insert for said input port has a second shade, wherein saiddielectric inserts for said plurality of second output ports have athird shade, wherein said first shade is visually distinguishable fromsaid second shade and said third shade, and wherein said second shade isvisually distinguishable from said third shade.
 10. The device accordingto claim 9, wherein said first shade constitutes said first color orcolors, said second shade constitutes said second color or colors, andsaid third shade constitutes said third color or colors.
 11. The deviceaccording to claim 7, further comprising: a MoCA® pass filter, whichpasses MoCA® frequencies, but attenuates other frequencies, wherein saidMoCA® pass filter is located between said resistive splitter network andsaid CATV and MoCA® ports.
 12. The device according to claim 7, whereinsaid plurality of second output ports includes at least four ports, andwherein said plurality of first output ports includes first, second andthird output ports.
 13. The device according to claim 7, wherein saidfirst section is located between said second section and said thirdsection on said top face.
 14. A CATV home network splitter devicecomprising: a housing with a top face; a female coaxial input portlocated in a first section of said top face of said housing, said inputport for receiving downstream service provider signals and fortransmitting upstream signals from customer devices to the serviceprovider; a plurality of first output ports located in a second sectionof said top face of said housing, said plurality of first output portsfor outputting service provider signals to customer devices and forreceiving signals directed to the service provider, and said pluralityof first output ports also for transmitting and receiving in-homenetwork signals allowing customer devices within the home network tocommunicate with each other, said plurality of first output ports beingdesignated as CATV and MoCA® ports, wherein said plurality of firstoutput ports includes first and third female coaxial ports, each havinga centrally located pin receiving portion, and wherein said input portis formed as a fourth female coaxial port having a pin receivingportion, and wherein said pin receiving portion of said fourth femalecoaxial port is located a first distance from said pin receiving portionof said first female coaxial port, and wherein said pin receivingportion of said fourth female coaxial port is located a second distancefrom said pin receiving portion of said third female coaxial port, andwherein said first distance is approximately equal to said seconddistance; a plurality of second output ports located in a third sectionof said top face of said housing, said plurality of second output portsfor transmitting and receiving in-home network signals allowing customerdevices within the home network to communicate with each other, whereinsaid plurality of second output ports do not output service providersignals to customer devices and do not pass customer device signals tothe service provider, said plurality of second output ports beingdesignated as MoCA® only ports; and a resistive splitter networkconnected to said plurality of second output ports, wherein each of saidplurality of MoCA® only ports can bi-directionally communicate within aMoCA® frequency band with all of said CATV and MoCA® ports located onsaid housing.
 15. The device according to claim 14, wherein said firstdistance is equal to said second distance.
 16. The device according toclaim 14, wherein said plurality of first output ports further includesa second female coaxial port having a centrally located pin receivingportion, and wherein said pin receiving portion of said fourth femalecoaxial port is located a third distance from said pin receiving portionof said second female coaxial port, and wherein said third distance isapproximately equal to said first distance.
 17. The device according toclaim 14, further comprising: a MoCA® pass filter, which passes MoCA®frequencies, but attenuates other frequencies, wherein said MoCA® passfilter is located between said resistive splitter network and said CATVand MoCA® ports.
 18. The device according to claim 14, wherein saidplurality of second output ports includes at least four ports.
 19. Thedevice according to claim 14, wherein said first section is locatedbetween said second section and said third section on said top face. 20.The device according to claim 19, wherein said first section ischaracterized by a first color or colors, proximate said input port,said second section is characterized by a second color or colorsproximate said plurality of first output ports, and said third sectionis characterized by a third color or colors proximate said plurality ofsaid second output ports, and wherein said first color or colors arevisually distinguishable from said second color or colors and said thirdcolor or colors, and wherein said second color or colors are visuallydistinguishable from said third color or colors.